An Heiress at Heart (42 page)

“In his case, yes.” Seeing Lizzie’s bleak expression, James reached out to gently tilt her chin upward. “Don’t you start down that road of thought, young lady. I believe life has better things in store for you.”

“You always see the bright side of things, don’t you, James?”

“Oh, yes. Anything else is a dreadful waste of energy.”

Lizzie managed a smile, and braved a question she’d been wanting to ask. “James, were you with Freddie on the night of the duel?”

“So it
was
a duel, then,” James said. “I always suspected as much. How quaintly old-fashioned.”

“But you weren’t there?”

“Me? No. The season was over by then, and Aunt had dragged me to Rosewood to oversee some repairs. I believe it was Richard Spencer who was with him. But everything was so hushed up that I’m not even sure of that.”

“I’m so glad it wasn’t you.”

“Me, too, my girl, me, too. How extraordinary that it was you Freddie ran off with,” James mused. “If I had met you then, seen your incredible resemblance to Ria, everything might have turned out quite differently.”

“Thank you, James. For giving me back at least a shred of my self-respect. No matter what happens now, I will always be grateful to you.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” he said with a grin.

                                                          
Chapter 39

J
ames escorted Lizzie to the downstairs parlor. Lady Thornborough sat stiff and regal in her high-backed chair, looking as though she were the Queen herself. She regarded Lizzie severely. Without preamble she said, “You have lied to me, Lizzie Poole.”

Lizzie bowed her head. “Yes. I humbly beg your pardon. There is no excuse for what I have done, but I—”

“You think you can simply request my forgiveness, and then it is done?”

Lizzie stole a glance at Lady Thornborough. Her face was stern and unyielding. “I have no right to ask forgiveness,” Lizzie said. “But I want you to know that I did it for Ria’s sake.” Seeing the look of pain on Lady Thornborough’s face, she hastily added, “Ria asked me to come here. I was determined to be a good granddaughter to you. I told myself I had good reason to do what I did, but I see now that I was wrong.”

“Are you truly repentant,” Lady Thornborough asked, “or do you merely regret having been caught?”

Lizzie lifted her head. This accusation she could, and would, answer with all sincerity. “I do not regret that the truth has come out. I am glad of it. My only regret is that I have hurt you. I have grown to love you, you see.” Lizzie’s heart felt raw as she laid it bare before the woman.

“Lord Somerville informs me that you were quite adamant about your perceived connection to this family.”

“Yes. I still am. But I make no claims. I deserve nothing after the way I betrayed your trust.”

There was a very loud silence after Lizzie spoke these words.

At last Lady Thornborough said, “You do not try to justify yourself?”

“Clearly I strayed far from the right path, and from my best intentions. However, I am determined to live honestly from this day forward, and that includes accepting all responsibility for what I have done. I ask for no pity, for I know I do not deserve it.”

“It is true that you deserve no pity,” Lady Thornborough said, her voice still hard.

Lizzie braced herself. They could send her off in chains right now, and she would be satisfied that at least she had been able to state her apologies, even if they had not been accepted.

“You might earn it, however,” the old lady added, her voice still crisp, but not quite so razor sharp.

This was most definitely not what Lizzie was expecting. Was she really being offered a chance to make amends? A glimmer of hope lit in her heart. “Name it, I beg of you. Anything, and I will do it.”

A hint of a smile appeared on Lady Thornborough’s
face. “I will tell you what you must do. You must come here, and kiss your grandmamma.”

Shock and confusion coursed through Lizzie all at once. Her knees threatened to give out, and she grabbed on to James’s arm more tightly.

“You heard her,” James urged. “It is never a good idea to keep Auntie waiting.”

Lizzie broke free and raced to Lady Thornborough, nearly toppling the chair as she threw her arms around her.

“What in heaven’s name?” the woman said with a gasp.

“I’m so sorry for everything,” Lizzie cried, peppering her cheeks with kisses. “I do love you. I loved Ria, too. I loved her better than a sister. Whatever I can do, somehow I will make things right—”

“Perhaps,” Lady Thornborough wheezed, “you could start by removing the choke hold around my neck.”

This comment made Lizzie realize how much force she had been applying. Slowly she untangled herself and stepped back.

“That’s better,” Lady Thornborough said, readjusting her shawl. She indicated the chair next to her. “Sit down, child. We have much to discuss.”

Still dazed, Lizzie complied.

Lady Thornborough picked up a piece of paper that had been lying on the table next to her. She adjusted her reading glasses and read over it very carefully. Finally, she set her cool gray eyes on Lizzie. “I have a letter here, Elizabeth, from your father.”

“My… father?”

“Yes. Your father. Herbert Thornborough.” She held
up a hand to keep Lizzie from replying. “You thought the letters between Herbert and your mother that might prove the truth of your parentage were lost. They were not. I have them.”

This cannot be happening
, Lizzie thought. How long had Lady Thornborough known the truth about her? Had everyone seen through her charade and allowed her to play the part anyway?

“The letters,” Lady Thornborough continued, “have been stored at my solicitor’s office in London for safekeeping.”

“I don’t understand,” Lizzie said. “Ria told me they were here. She had seen them herself.”

“I found them after Ria ran off with Edward,” James explained. “I was searching for any clues I could find about their possible destination.” He gave her a playful grin. “I knew where Ria kept her diary, so I went looking there first.”

Lizzie shook her head in resignation. “She really had no secrets from you, did she, James?”

He looked pleased with himself. “Not a one.”

“You cannot have found the diary, though. I found it myself, undisturbed in the very back corner.”

“That is correct; but I did find a packet of letters. After I read them, I gave them to Aunt.”

“It was an unusual display of wisdom on your part,” Lady Thornborough told him. To Lizzie she said, “I told James at that time that we would speak no more on the matter, since it had nothing to do with the problem of Ria’s elopement. It was an unfortunate aspect of the family history that was best forgotten.”

“You knew?” Despite her earlier feelings of contrition,
Lizzie now felt stirrings of resentment. “You knew of my existence and yet you considered it something that was
best forgotten
?”

“That is what I told James,” Lady Thornborough answered brusquely. “The letters only gave evidence of the connection between Herbert and your mother. They stated nothing outright about a child. I did not feel it wise to enlighten James, since I could not trust him to keep the matter to himself.”

James sighed dramatically. “I would love to deny this, but I fear it is all too true.”

Lizzie looked at Lady Thornborough. “But
you
knew about me?” she persisted.

Lady Thornborough indicated the paper in her hand. “This is a document your father left with his solicitors before his death. In it, he states with unwavering clarity the circumstances surrounding his involvement with Emma Poole, the trouble she found herself in, and how he allowed his valet to take the blame for it. He also explains how he gave this valet a certain sum of cash to set himself up in London, and how he always took an interest in you, albeit from afar.”

From afar.

“In this document,” Lady Thornborough continued, “he stated that upon Sam Poole’s death, you were to be notified of an annuity that he had set aside for you. The problem was, by the time he died, you had disappeared from England.”

It’s true,
Lizzie thought. Her father had died while she was in Australia—another of her bitter regrets.

“The money has sat, in trust, in the event that you might one day be located.”

“He set aside money for me?” Lizzie asked incredulously.

“Yes. Despite how it may seem, I believe he cared for you very much.”

A tiny part of Lizzie’s heart seemed to unclench. He
had
cared for her after all. Perhaps the scowl on his face as he had hurried Ria away on that long-ago day was not disgust, as he had pretended. Perhaps it was the anguish of having a daughter he could not acknowledge. The anguish that another man was raising her as his own.

Lady Thornborough studied her intently. “I assume you will claim the money?”

Lizzie could hardly formulate a response. All this time she had pretended to be another heiress, not knowing she had a right to claim an inheritance of her own. It was tempting, of course. But something still troubled her. “How can I accept this now, after what I have done? I would have to disclose how I lied to you and to all of London society.”

“You fear the consequences, of course.”

“No. I would gladly face the public shame that I deserve, if it could be done without bringing hurt or scandal to you. But it cannot, and that is my main concern.”

Lady Thornborough smiled. “That is why it seems your most recent injury will be a boon to us, my dear. I have Dr. Layton’s firm medical opinion that the blow you suffered in London caused you more harm than was at first supposed. It gave you a sort of temporary amnesia. You came here to deliver the bracelet for Ria, but then you became disoriented by the blow and began to think you
were
Ria—especially when we all thought you were, and behaved as such toward you. This
latest fall has happily brought you back to your right mind.”

“By Jove!” James said, slapping his knee. “What a coup, Auntie!”

Lizzie looked doubtfully at Lady Thornborough. “Will anyone believe that?”

She smiled confidently. “I have been a woman of my word for nearly seventy years. In addition, we have Dr. Layton’s official diagnosis. No one will dare to contradict it.”

James snapped his fingers, his mind clearly working as though the three of them were planning strategy for some kind of game. “We must also say that after we discovered our error, we had to keep humoring you until we were able to bring you back around to your right mind, lest we bring more damage to your already tortured psyche.”

“Indeed.” Even Lady Thornborough seemed amused by this idea.

“But this will still bring disgrace to the Thornborough family,” Lizzie insisted. “You will have to acknowledge publicly that Sir Herbert—your son—”

“Clearly Herbert himself wished to acknowledge it,” Lady Thornborough said. She sighed. “I cannot say I relish being fodder for the malicious gossip that will inevitably arise. However, the unfortunate truth is that scandal is nothing new to our family. More to the point, all the parties who could be most hurt by it are dead.” She held out her hands to Lizzie. “Except for you and I, of course.”

Lizzie knelt by the chair and took the hands the woman had proffered.

Lady Thornborough smiled down at her. “There is only one course of action, so far as I can see. I will formally acknowledge you as my granddaughter, and we will get you that annuity.” With a glance at James, she added, “Rosewood estate is still entailed to the male heir. I cannot change that.”

“I shall take great pains to treat it well, Aunt,” James vowed. “I know you think me quite inadequate to the task, but I have a tremendous urge at present to mend my ways.”

Lady Thornborough regarded him steadily. “Let us hope your good intentions do not fade. You have a lot to learn, and you must do it quickly, for I will not be here much longer to carry these responsibilities for you.”

“Please don’t say that,” Lizzie exclaimed. “We will have many years together, I am sure.”

She patted Lizzie’s hand gently. “As I was saying, Rosewood and the income from the lands must go to James. However, my personal funds are mine to do with as I please. And I plan to settle that upon you.”

It was too much good fortune. Lizzie reached up to hug her grandmother tightly, and neither of them was able to speak for a very long time.

“Why is it,” James finally remarked, “that women always cry when they are happy?”

Lizzie straightened and began to wipe away her tears. Now that the first flush of joy had passed, she found her thoughts returning, as they always did, to Geoffrey. “It is a bittersweet happiness,” she said. “I am grateful for your willingness to do these things for me. But surely Lord Somerville would never agree to such a plan.”

“Perhaps you should ask him yourself before drawing that conclusion,” Lady Thornborough said.

Lizzie laughed in disbelief. “How am I to do that?” He was showing no signs that he wished to speak to her.